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PJ's Perspective: Area soccer players earn postseason honors

Vermont freshman and 2013 Woodbury High School graduate Kristina White scored a game-high 19 points behind 4-for-6 shooting from 3-point range to help lead the Catamounts past neighboring St. Michael’s College, 80-57, in a women’s basketball exhibition game at Patrick Gymnasium on Saturday. The Catamounts shot 48.6 percent from the field, including a 6-for-9 effort from long range, and held St. Michael’s to 25.9 percent shooting on the defensive end in the second half. White was a four-year starter for Woodbury and finished her career ranked third among the all-time leading scorers in school history with 1,595 career points. She broke six school records during her four years, including: most 3-pointers in a season (72), most 3-pointers in a career (202) and most steals in a season (132).

Woodbury native Hayden Shaw is a member of the Waterloo (Iowa) Black Hawks of the United States Hockey League. The USHL has 16 Midwestern teams and is the only Tier 1 junior league in the nation. USHL players retain their amateur status, with approximately 95 percent advancing to Division I college programs. At least one Waterloo alumnus has been on nine of the last 10 NCAA National Championship teams. Current Minnesota Wild players Keith Ballard and Nate Prosser are among the more than 100 former USHL players currently under contract with NHL teams.

Shaw is the youngest player currently on the team’s fulltime roster. In six appearances, he has four goals and two assists, and all of his points have come on the power play. On Oct. 18 he scored the game-winning goal in overtime versus the Green Bay Gamblers.

The goalie of the state champion North St. Paul boys soccer team was Tommy Molski, who lives in Woodbury. North St. Paul topped Eastview 5-4 in the shootout for a 4-3 victory in the Class AA title game at the Metrodome. Molski made eight saves in regulation in the Polars’ win.

Soccer players at District 833 high schools reeled in postseason honors recently. East Ridge senior defender Alec Tostenrud and East Ridge junior forward Samuel Ruiz Plaza were named to the all-state first team and Park senior defender Matt Goecke and Woodbury junior defender Ben Miller were named to the all-state second team. Park junior defender Annie Williams was named to the girls soccer all-state first team, along Woodbury senior midfielder Maddie Gaffney. Woodbury senior defender Grace Rogers, East Ridge senior defender Jaden Vogelgesang and Park senior forward Temi Ogunrinde were selected to the all-state second team. Gaffney was also one of 40 girls from around the country selected to play in the All-American soccer game in North Carolina in December.

Woodbury High School graduate Sandy Jorgensen’s DC Scandal Ultimate women’s team went undefeated to win this year’s National Championship tournament held in Frisco, Tex., from Oct 17-20. Seeded third, the Scandal easily beat second-seeded Seattle Riot in the semifinals 15-7 and topped 7-time champion and No. 1-seeded San Francisco Fury 14-7 in the finals. Winning this tournament qualifies the team for the 2014 World Ultimate Club Championships which will take place Aug. 2-9 in Lecco, Italy. Jorgensen graduated from WHS in 2005, and from the University of Wisconsin-Madison with triple majors in Finance, Economics, and International Political Economics in 2010. She graduated from Georgetown Law School in May, and is an Associate at Stewart and Stewart — a law firm specializing in international trade law in Washington, D.C.

Woodbury graduate Shannon Carlson and the St. Scholastica women’s soccer team capped off an undefeated regular season in UMAC (Upper Midwest Athletic Conference) play with a 4-0 shutout win over Bethany Lutheran. It was the 16th consecutive for the Saints. Carlson, a senior for CSS, scored her 12th goal of the season early in the sixth minute to give the Saints the early advantage. CSS has won the conference tournament in two consecutive seasons, and look to three-peat as UMAC Tournament champions and return to the DIII National Tournament.

Patrick Johnson has been the South Washington County Bulletin’s sports editor since 2008. He reports on and oversees coverage of high school and amateur sports in south Washington County and Woodbury. Prior to joining the Bulletin, Johnson worked for other Twin Cities suburban newspapers. He is a University of Minnesota graduate.